Langham in court on sex and porn charges

AWARD-winning comedy actor Chris Langham appeared in court today charged with a string of indecent assaults and child porn offences. The 57-year-old from Cranbrook, Kent, is charged with one count of buggery and eight counts of indecent assault.

AWARD-winning comedy actor Chris Langham appeared in court today charged with a string of indecent assaults and child porn offences.

The 57-year-old from Cranbrook, Kent, is charged with one count of buggery and eight counts of indecent assault.

The alleged offences took place between 1994 and 1998.

The actor, who stars in the hit BBC political satire The Thick Of It, is also charged with 15 counts of making indecent images of children last year.

Langham, who wore a charcoal-grey suit, maroon tie and blue shirt, sat in the Maidstone Crown Court dock accompanied by one officer during the hour-long court appearance. He did not enter pleas.

He spoke only to confirm his full name "Christopher Langham" and that he understood his bail conditions.

He must not contact a number of named people, directly or indirectly, and not have unsupervised access to anyone under the age of 16.

The actor scooped the Best Comedy Performance award at the Baftas for his portrayal of bumbling minister Hugh Abbott, and last year won Best Television Comedy actor at the British Comedy Awards for the same role.

He also has writing credits for programmes including the Muppet Show and political sketch show Bremner, Bird And Fortune and he co-wrote and starred in the Bafta award-winning BBC2 series Help.

Langham has announced he will withdraw from all BBC projects pending the outcome of the charges.